GB: KW Variant 3 Coilover Suspension
road warrior
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 1,861
Likes: 3
From: Oakland and Los Angeles, CA
We love you Polak.
I can offer you pillowball mounts using converted OE shock mounts just like they run in GrandAm, Koni Challenge, etc. I use higher quality monoballs than what everyone else sells.
I'd just need to know some of the shaft dimensions.
I'd just need to know some of the shaft dimensions.
Just wondering if anyone else has these installed besides polak and feras and at what height? had any issues with clearance? Rather sure I saw feras say that him and polak have it set to 26". No worries for winter here in texas, but just wondering with speedbumps and such. Definitely considering these for christmas...
Surf Hard, Drive Hard
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 7,840
Likes: 13
From: Indialantic, Florida
AHHH....why am i at work....wish i was home unwrapping! It probably took about a month and a half for everything to go through from the time i mailed to check to PolaK to the moment they arrived at the door. PolaK had to wait for my check to clear before he sent the $$ to Germany...who then had to wait as well.
?
Started the install last night and only got on the two front coilovers on....mazda front suspension is pretty interesting...started at 8pm last night and after adjustments and joy rides, it was 2am... although the front is still really low, i have yet to scrap. The rears will have to wait until Saturday...=/
Overall impressions, since the ride is really low at this point, the preload on the springs arent that high. I will be raising it before i take it in for an alignment. The ride comfort feels close to OEM but you can feel the imperfections of the road a bit more (esp when the chuck holes come). The car seems a bit more responsive and there is the increased ability to throttle steer. During the joy ride last night, I felt that the car was understeering a bit, but this was probably due to having the OEM suspension in the rears.
Pretty impressed with the coilover and glad to see that it rides fair nicely as this is a daily driver for me.
Pictures to follow.
Overall impressions, since the ride is really low at this point, the preload on the springs arent that high. I will be raising it before i take it in for an alignment. The ride comfort feels close to OEM but you can feel the imperfections of the road a bit more (esp when the chuck holes come). The car seems a bit more responsive and there is the increased ability to throttle steer. During the joy ride last night, I felt that the car was understeering a bit, but this was probably due to having the OEM suspension in the rears.
Pretty impressed with the coilover and glad to see that it rides fair nicely as this is a daily driver for me.
Pictures to follow.
Im been really busy at work for the last couple of weeks, but i still managed to get the two back coilovers on. Now i am in mississippi for work while my poor car is just sitting there....It's also been raining so no opportunities to take any pictures. The install went pretty well, but I hope I adjusted the rear coilovers appropriately bc once they are tucked in, there seems to be no way to adjust the rebound without ripping the coilover off again.
The overall ride quality is good and still very close to OEM. It still handles most of the bumps well, but there is that increased sensitivity to dramatic surface/elevation changes (i.e. pot holes). The car also feels more predictable and stable during cornering; turn in appears to be more precise. The car can enter the turn with more confidence. When traveling on the highways, if there are surface undulations, the car can be a little jarring, but that's with any set of coilovers. I am glad that I have a lotta padding in my seats! Also in the rain on the highway, the car tends to be more affected by puddle-steer.
On a side note, I was also very surprised the that car hasnt bottomed out yet. There have been a few close calls where i scrap a little of the front bumper black plastic, but that's only from underneath. I enter entrance ramps at a slow speed, and I still tend to avoid scraping. What I am most surprised about is that the center of the car has cleared everything I've thrown at it. Given the long wheelbase, I thought that would be the first thing to hit.. but i was wrong. Although Texas is quote flat...
Overall great purchase and value; Id recommend it for any person who uses the car for daily and the occasional sprited/track/touge driving...
The overall ride quality is good and still very close to OEM. It still handles most of the bumps well, but there is that increased sensitivity to dramatic surface/elevation changes (i.e. pot holes). The car also feels more predictable and stable during cornering; turn in appears to be more precise. The car can enter the turn with more confidence. When traveling on the highways, if there are surface undulations, the car can be a little jarring, but that's with any set of coilovers. I am glad that I have a lotta padding in my seats! Also in the rain on the highway, the car tends to be more affected by puddle-steer.
On a side note, I was also very surprised the that car hasnt bottomed out yet. There have been a few close calls where i scrap a little of the front bumper black plastic, but that's only from underneath. I enter entrance ramps at a slow speed, and I still tend to avoid scraping. What I am most surprised about is that the center of the car has cleared everything I've thrown at it. Given the long wheelbase, I thought that would be the first thing to hit.. but i was wrong. Although Texas is quote flat...
Overall great purchase and value; Id recommend it for any person who uses the car for daily and the occasional sprited/track/touge driving...
Registered
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 44
Likes: 0
From: Las Vegas, NV
Decided to throw my 2 cents in since i've had these for about 6 months now. Like taka i have yet to bottom out with only 1" of clearance between the front wheel and the front fender ~2" in rear and 5" from pavement to the frame in the front and 6.5" in rear. I used the recommended settings with the intention of making it a bit stiffer since the roads here in vegas are very smooth. After a few months the ride is plenty stiff for DD and whenever i want to have a bit of fun, coupled with RB swaybars, its quite thrilling in the corners having nearly ZERO body roll and great corning characteristics.
The only downside that i can think of is when i first installed them the oversteer seem to increase quite a bit, no biggy just took a while getting used to. Now its much easier to throttle steer like taka said.
Def worth the money!
The only downside that i can think of is when i first installed them the oversteer seem to increase quite a bit, no biggy just took a while getting used to. Now its much easier to throttle steer like taka said.
Def worth the money!